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2018 Belgian Grand Prix
| poletime = 1:58.179 | fastestlap = 1:46.286 | fastestlapdriver = Valtteri Bottas | fastestlapnation = FIN | fastestlapteam = | fastestlapnumber = 32 | winner = Sebastian Vettel | winnernation = GER | winnerteam = | second = Lewis Hamilton | secondnation = GBR | secondteam = | third = Max Verstappen | thirdnation = NED | thirdteam = }} The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix) was the thirteenth race of the 2018 Formula One season, and the sixty-second time the Belgian Grand Prix was held on the Formula One calendar. It was held between 24 August and 26 August 2018. In qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took his seventy-eighth pole position following a light rain shower in the middle of the third qualifying session, surpassing Juan Manuel Fangio and Ayrton Senna's number of four pole positions at the circuit, while Sebastian Vettel qualified alongside him on the front row. Esteban Ocon qualified third ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez to bring both of 's cars onto the second row following strategic errors for Kimi Räikkönen, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. In the race, Bottas damaged his front wing after hitting the back of Sergey Sirotkin, while Nico Hülkenberg crashed into the back of Fernando Alonso at La Source, causing Alonso to hit the top of Charles Leclerc's car and damage Ricciardo's rear wing before Ricciardo also punctured Räikkönen's tyre and damaged his endplate, deploying the safety car after Vettel took the lead from Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight in a similar fashion to the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix. Ricciardo and Räikkönen would later also retire from the race after Ricciardo had his rear wing replaced and rejoined a few laps down, while Räikkönen suffered a malfunction with his DRS. After the safety car came in at the end of lap 4, Vettel led every lap to take his fifty-second victory, 's first win at the circuit since 2009. Hamilton had to settle for second place, leading the Drivers' Championship by seventeen points ahead of Vettel, while Verstappen finished third and took his first podium at his home circuit after overtaking Romain Grosjean, Pérez and Ocon in the first half of the race. __TOC__ Background During the , entered administration, but were later bought by investors led by Lawrence Stroll. The team was later recognised as a new team called "Racing Point Force India F1 Team", while Sahara Force India was excluded from the championship, thus also excluding all of Force India's points scored in the season prior to the Belgian Grand Prix. and brought their third upgraded engines to the Grand Prix, although Valtteri Bottas was faced with exceeding the use of his power unit components, thus giving him grid penalties that put him at the back of the grid alongside Nico Hülkenberg, who had the same situation. 's reserve driver Lando Norris also made his Grand Prix weekend debut, taking Fernando Alonso's place for just the first practice session. Entry list Practice Overview FP1 FP2 FP3 Practice Results Qualifying Q1 Q2 Q3 Qualifying Results ** Bottas was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE. *† Hülkenberg was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth and fifth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE. *‡ Sainz was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth turbocharger, fourth MGH-H, third MGH-K, third ES and third CE. *§ Vandoorne was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth turbocharger, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE. Grid Source ** Bottas was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE. *† Hülkenberg was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth and fifth TC, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE. *‡ Sainz was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth turbocharger, fourth MGH-H, third MGH-K, third ES and third CE. *§ Vandoorne was forced to start from the back of the grid after using his fourth ICE, fourth turbocharger, fourth MGU-H, third MGU-K, third ES and third CE. Race Report Results ** Bottas was given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sirotkin. Milestones *Sergio Pérez's 150th entry (147th start). *Nico Hülkenberg's 150th entry (148th start). *Lewis Hamilton's 111th race for , surpassing his 110 races for . *Marcus Ericsson scores his fifteenth point. *Sergio Pérez scores 500 points. *Sebastian Vettel overtakes Alain Prost for the third highest number of wins and podiums. Standings after race Notes Category:Grand Prix articles Category:2018 Grands Prix Category:Belgian Grand Prix Category:Formula One races in Belgium